Brazilian media initially said some 20 people had been pulled from the debris alive and that six had died, but the number of confirmed dead is now 150 and is expected to rise steeply.

Civil defence spokesman Pedro Machado said at least 200 people had been buried. He said anyone there at the time was probably killed instantly.

Torrential rain that began on Monday afternoon set off dozens of landslides, with the worst hit areas being slums built on the hills around Rio, Brazil's second biggest city.

Officials are to distribute thousands of aid packs with food and medicine and the mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, has said that up to 2,000 families will be moved from high-risk areas, but has not given details of when nor where to.

He said 4,000 families had been made homeless and that 10,000 houses remained at risk, mostly in the slums where about a fifth of Rio's people live.

The Brazilian government has also announced an emergency programme to re-build homes for families who lost their houses.